Article: This time, religious conservatives have major influence.(Originated from Knight-Ridder Newspapers)

WASHINGTON _ Religious conservatives _ barely taken seriously two presidential elections ago _ emerge from this primary season in an enviable position.

They have provided crucial support that made Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole the front-runner who owes them. And they still have candidate Pat Buchanan to champion their anti-abortion views within the Republican Party, even if he is not the nominee.

``This has been a coming-of-age of Christian conservatives,'' said Jim Guth, an expert on religious conservatives at South Carolina's Furman University.

Their influence will be readily apparent in Tuesday's primaries in six Southern states and is expected to ...

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